The market is shifting fast. Momentum is fading. Fear is rising. And if this really is the start of a new bear, the news cycle is about to get much uglier. We’ll get more hacks, more exploits, more lawsuits, and more chaos. It always happens when confidence drops and liquidity thins out.
Personally, I’m preparing for it. I still own Plasma, Aster, WLFI, and BTC. But I’m getting close to selling everything this week to rotate fully into stables. The idea is simple. Farm stablecoin yields. Trade perps to stay active. And wait for fresh spot opportunities later when prices are actually cheap again.
This week already delivered the type of crypto drama you expect in the early stages of a downturn. Let’s take a look.
UpBit Hack Linked to Solana Signature Weakness
A Korean cryptography specialist says the Upbit breach wasn’t caused by a simple system failure. Instead, attackers allegedly exploited subtle patterns in how Solana transaction signatures were generated.
Researchers say the signing process showed small randomness issues in nonce generation. By scanning millions of signatures, attackers could infer private keys from biased patterns. Both hot wallets and user deposit wallets were exposed before Upbit froze activity and moved assets to cold storage.
The attack appears highly technical and well funded. And the timing raised eyebrows, landing on the anniversary of a previous Upbit hack. It’s another reminder that even tiny flaws in cryptographic randomness can cause massive losses.
Yearn Finance Exploited for $9 Million
DeFi also took a hit this week. Yearn Finance lost $9M after attackers abused a flaw in a custom yETH contract. The bug allowed near-infinite minting and drained over 1000 ETH in a single move.
Funds were quickly sent to Tornado Cash. Yearn clarified that V2 and V3 vaults were unaffected. Still, the incident pushed YFI price down and knocked TVL lower. It also renewed conversations about the risks of custom DeFi code, especially if we slide deeper into bearish conditions where exploit activity rises.
If a bear is starting, expect more protocol failures ahead.
Airdrop Claims and Updates
Some positive news for farmers:
- Aster S3 checker is live
- AethinSwap claim is live
- Sonic Labs S2 claim is open
More airdrops always help soften rough weeks. Also, make sure to farm some bonuses to keep the balance going up.
WLFI Buybacks Cause a Small Price Move
World Liberty Financial continued its buyback program by spending $10M on WLFI tokens through CoW Swap. This follows a governance-approved plan to use protocol fees to buy and burn WLFI.
Previous buybacks didn’t move the price much, and this one hasn’t either. But it does show that buyback mechanics are becoming more common across DeFi teams as they look for ways to support token value during volatile periods.
WLFI and its USD1 stablecoin remain in the spotlight after earlier scrutiny tied large stablecoin flows to political narratives. The team denies everything but the attention remains high.
It might be time to sell some of my spot. Since I will still have exposure through locked tokens.
Kalshi Faces Class Action Lawsuit
Kalshi is now facing a class action accusing the platform of operating unlicensed sports betting while marketing itself as a regulated exchange. Plaintiffs say users unknowingly bet against Kalshi or its partners instead of other traders.
The case follows a Nevada decision allowing regulators to enforce state gambling laws on some of Kalshi’s markets. That ruling questioned whether certain contracts qualify as swaps at all. Kalshi called the lawsuit baseless, but the regulatory pressure is clearly growing.
Hyperliquid Unlocks 1.75M HYPE
Hyperliquid unlocked 1.75M HYPE tokens for team members and contributors over the weekend. The team says the release was planned and follows the original vesting schedule.
Some traders worried about sell pressure, but the unlock is tiny compared to the massive 270M token release in late 2024. Hyperliquid also highlights that it never raised external capital, so there are no VC cliffs coming. Still, supply discussions will continue as future unlocks are already mapped out.
Tether Buys 116 Tons of Gold
The most surprising headline of the week came from Tether. They reportedly bought 116 tons of physical gold. That makes them the largest private gold holder in the world.
About 7 percent of their reserves are now backed by gold. Their buying spree accounted for around 2 percent of global demand in Q3, and some analysts say it contributed to gold’s surge from $3K to $4.3K per ounce.
This move pushes Tether closer to operating like a shadow central bank. It also raises new regulatory questions, especially under Europe’s MiCAR rules. The more centralised Tether becomes, the more risk management matters for anyone using USDT as a payment or payroll solution.
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Outro
If this is the start of a new bear, this is the exact tone we’ll see for months. Hacks. Exploits. Lawsuits. Airdrop Sybill fams by teams, Unlock debates. Political drama. And large players making moves in the shadows. It’s all part of the cycle.
Stay cautious. Stay liquid. Reduce unnecessary risks. And use the calm periods to position yourself for the next big trend.
I’ll let you know when I rotate everything into stables and start the next farming phase.
If you enjoyed this blog, you may want to check our other crypto news updates.
As always, don’t forget to claim your bonus below on Blofin. See you next time!
